For controlling an aircraft, usually control surface arrangements or flap arrangements are used that are, in particular, arranged on trailing edges of wings or tail units. Attaching pivotable flaps is possible in various ways. Relatively small flaps may, for example, be mounted by way of a hinge arrangement with two points of articulation on a basic body in order to ensure the introduction of forces between the flap and the basic body in question. Where relatively slender and long flaps are used it is, however, necessary to use a hinge arrangement with more than just two points of articulation which are arranged along a shared hinge line so as to be spaced apart from each other.
Taken in isolation, the basic body that carries the movable flap may mechanically be considered to be a clamped carrier that is statically held in a defined manner. However, as a result of attaching a movable flap to the base body by means of a hinge arrangement the overall system is statically over-determined. In particular when exterior forces, for example, forces resulting from air or inertia, act on the system, this results in constraint forces occurring between the basic body and the flap. If, under load, the basic body assumes a bending line that results from elastic deformation, the flap needs to adapt to the aforesaid and vice versa. This results in significant constraint forces in particular if the flap assumes a deflected position relative to the basic body.
DE 10 346 982 A1 discloses a wing assembly profile structure of an aircraft in which beads are formed in a movably held flap, which beads result in elastic deformability of the flap in order to reduce deformation-induced constraint forces.
DE 10 2006 030 315 A1 discloses a high-lift system on the wing of an aircraft, in which high-lift system on at least one drive station required for moving a flap an elastic element to compensate for relative movements in the winch chord direction is provided in order to prevent the occurrence of constraint forces.